On Saturday night, around 70 sixth, seventh and eighth-graders will attend a ball at the Russellville Country Club, where they will dance, have contests, and enjoy refreshments.

All the while, they will exhibit proper manners, manners they’ve learned their Cotillion class, which hosts the dance, called the Winter Ball.

The ball allows Cotillions — the name given to Cotillion students — to apply and practice the skills they’ve learned from their classes this fall, which were taught from September through November. While Cotillion is known for teaching table manners, the class covers a broader range of etiquette as well.

“People always think table manners, but it’s more than that,” said Joan Caughman, director of the Russellville Chapter of the National League of Junior Cotillions. “It’s also manners in the public place and in the home, on the telephone. It’s all areas of manners.”

The class teaches manners such as how a man helps a woman into her coat, and how to properly introduce one’s self.

And in Cotillion, the rule is to never say no.

“So if someone is asked to dance, they know that,” Caughman said. “We work to build up confidence and self-esteem in the age group and to treat others with respect. We don’t want anyone to feel bad.”

At the ball, which is semi-formal, students will practice different dances they have learned, including the foxtrot, the cha-cha, and the swing. Later in the night, they will eat and drink refreshments, and the boys will escort the girls to their tables.

Following the Winter Ball, students will take classes in January and February in preparation for their Spring Ball, which is held in March.

In that class, they will learn formal place settings and the proper positions for china, silver, and glassware. January offers an opportunity for Caughman to teach a lesson on how to behave at someone else’s house or at a party, which coincides with the Super Bowl, an event known for large get-togethers.

In the second year of Cotillion classes, Cotillions will participate in a five-course formal dinner.

With news outlets reporting an increase in attendance classes across the nation, Caughman says that her numbers have stayed consistent but that she has seen growing trends nationwide.

“My numbers hold pretty steady,” she said, saying she averages roughly 70 participants each year. “One thing that is increasing is doing more corporate etiquette, like interviewing, for college students before they go out into the world.”

“I think that’s something that is growing and should be growing more,” she continued. “In our technical age, when lots of interviews are online, you need to still know how to handle yourself when you’re approached. I think it’s very, very important.”

Caughman said that Cotillions are more uptight during the Winter Ball, but that they grow more comfortable as the year goes on.

“They’re still pretty nervous at the winter ball, but by the spring ball they’re more relaxed, and they’re talking and laughing,” she said.